Wavelengths
by QuestofDreams
Summary: NaruSaiNaru. Courting rituals of the socially retarded. Or how Naruto got a clue.
1. Part 1

**Title**: Wavelengths  
**Rated **: R  
**Pairing**: NaruSaiNaru  
**Genre**: Umm... bad crack? Not angsty angst? Not romantic romance? XDD  
**Warnings**: Language, oral, Naruto torture?  
**Author's Notes**: For **erisabesu** for the **oh shit santa** gift exchange :D (pssss, go read the other participants' entries too NOOOOOOW at **http://community(dot)livejournal(dot)com/oh(underscore)shit(underscore)santa**)

Also, thank you ******crazy toffee** and ******myrafur** for making this fic less sucky :D and thank you, Toffee, for the quote. Ignore the crappy title. That's all me.

**Please HEED THE RATING AND WARNINGS ABOVE. XD**

---

_"The problem with communication ... is the illusion that it has been accomplished."_ -- George Bernard Shaw

---

_Part I_

There was something intuitively wrong with the way Naruto's arm refused to move, despite repeated commands from his semi-conscious brain. He thought perhaps it might have something to do with the mysterious object jabbing his hip—that alone was cause for alarm, although he wasn't quite aware enough to say _why_.

That is, until a low voice, hoarse from sleep, muttered in his ear, "G'morning, Naruto."

His brain then decided to kindly remind him of the events of the previous night. Later, he would applaud himself for refraining from hyperventilating in an entirely disgraceful way.

"S-Sai?" He cracked open an encrusted eye. Sure enough, Sai's dark head was lying against his shoulder, the ends of his hair itching Naruto's neck. Well, that explained why he couldn't move his arm. As for the matter of his hip... _Oh_god

Sai rose beside him, sleepy eyes blinking into focus. "What do you want for breakfast?"

The question jolted Naruto out of his mental keening. He tried to focus on an articulate reply. "Er... huh?"

"Breakfast," Sai repeated, smiling. "Isn't that what you normally do in the mornings? Eat breakfast?"

"...yes?" Had it been anyone but Sai asking, he would have been certain it was a trick question. He pushed himself onto his elbows and winced at the way his arm prickled from the returning circulation. Sai's calm smile helped to keep the panic at bay when he spotted a rumpled pair of boxers beside his bed that sported a rather telling white stain.

"I'm going to shower while you decide." Sai rolled away and rose from the bed. Naruto spotted the curve of a pale buttock before he quickly averted his gaze.

He remained still until the sound of the shower filled the awkward silence. He sank deeper into the sheets, which were still warm from their body heat and clung uncomfortably to his back. He ran a hand through his hair before scrubbing furiously at his eyes. _I can deal with this_, he thought, taking a deep cleansing breath. Sai had acted as if waking up naked and tangled with his teammate was a common occurrence—Naruto couldn't say he shared the sentiment, but if Sai could handle this bizarre circumstance, then he could damn well do the same.

Feeling minutely better, he took quick stock of the night before. His face grew warm at the memory of Sai's fingers digging into his hips, of the moist warmth of his mouth, of a hard cock, hot and heavy against his palm. Naruto shuddered lightly and forced his thoughts away from the carnal. Objective assessment of _that_ portion of the night was apparently not possible just yet.

He dusted his fingers over the patch of sunlight that fell across the bed, which cast strange lights into the folds of rumpled blue cotton. He pulled the fabric flat, smoothing his hand over the spot where Sai had just been lying. No one had ever shared his bed, before, and seeing the imprint of someone else's body on his sheets left him reeling, hands trembling; an odd twist in his chest like the tightening of a screw.

If he'd learned anything about Sai in the years they'd been a team, it was that the man was always direct. Missions aside, Sai had the tendency to say exactly what was on his mind at any given time. Naruto had made it a habit to simply ignore Sai's odd remarks, unless they were direct insults—and even then, he found it difficult to stay angry when Sai wasn't even aware he'd delivered a particularly callous observation (but that didn't hinder his or Sakura's enthusiasm in correcting him, especially when it involved a swift fist).

Which inevitably led Naruto to the bewildering question of why Sai had mauled him in his sleep. His first instinct was to haul the man out of the bathroom and subject him to an interrogation... but Sai's insouciance over the matter begged the question of whether or not Naruto was simply being a _girl_ about it. No, he'd never shared his bed with anyone, but he'd never shared his body either. He pressed his hand into the mattress before withdrawing it, curling his fingers against his chest as if trying to clutch at the strange emotion there. He disliked feeling so ill at ease in his own bed. Maybe he would just play it cool for now.

"Should I make eggs?"

Naruto looked up and his eyes bulged. Sai was standing in his doorway, skin flushed from the hot water. His wet hair dripped threads of water down his pale neck and he was smiling pleasantly, stark naked. Naruto tried to speak but suspected he'd just swallowed his tongue.

It wasn't as if he'd never seen Sai naked—although their last venture to a hot springs had ended in singed wood, an emotionally scarred frog, and a permanent ban from what had been his favorite onsen of choice—but coupled with fresh memories of the night before, Naruto's brain had little chance to remind his body that it was supposed to be acting aloof.

He felt his ears burn as he hopped out of bed and dragged the sheet around his hips. He rushed past the naked dripping man and slammed the bathroom door shut against Sai's puzzled gaze.

--

To his relief, Sai was fully dressed when Naruto emerged from the bathroom. He dressed quickly and joined him at the table where he had helped himself to a glass of milk.

"Your eggs were rotten," Sai said. He nodded at his glass. "And your milk expired yesterday."

Naruto forced his shoulders to relax as he fixed himself a bowl of cereal. Breakfast was, typically, a necessary chore—the means to providing enough energy to sustain his morning workout until he could grab a filling lunch at Ichiraku. But Sai's presence, his intrusion on this morning ritual, seemed to transform it into something domestic, something Naruto was far less comfortable with. "Um, yeah. Sorry. I need to go grocery shopping."

"I'll help you."

"That's not necessary," he said quickly, flushing a bit when Sai's eyebrow hitched. "I usually just go when I'm feeling bored. Mostly I eat at Ichiraku, anyway." Naruto wanted to ask why he was looking disappointed, but didn't fancy hazarding any precarious topics. So long as Sai didn't use their sudden intimacy to start questioning the dynamics of their team, Naruto was more than happy to pretend it'd never happened.

"I think..." Sai said. Naruto mentally winced and prayed he was thinking about something innocuous. "...that we should take a walk."

Naruto paused in spooning up a mouthful of cereal. "Huh?" Sai's wet hair gleamed in his otherwise unremarkable kitchenette/dining room and Naruto found himself momentarily caught by the way the edges of his hair burned russet in the sunlight.

Sai smiled and nodded decisively before taking a sip of his milk. "A walk, perhaps through the village."

"Why?" Sai's suggestion had caught up with his brain, but he was still confused.

Sai's smile faded and he seemed momentarily at a loss. Naruto was perplexed. "It seemed an appropriate suggestion."

Hell if he knew what that was supposed to mean. "Uh... I can't. I promised Sakura I'd pick up lunch for her today and it's already 11:30. I didn't mean to sleep in so late—" He almost choked on his own words, having forgotten that anything to do with sleeping in late and _why_ was perilous to his peace of mind.

"I see," Sai said. He lowered his eyes and his lips affected a smile.

Naruto felt a pang of annoyance and something else he couldn't identify at the easy way Sai pretended to be happy. He understood the reasons one might have for feigned cheeriness—it had once been his most useful shield against an unforgiving village—but he didn't think their situation warranted such tactics.

"Look, we..." He waved his spoon around, flecks of milk dotting his tabletop, and addressed his bowl. "We can walk or whatever later, okay?" He glanced up from his drowned cereal to find Sai looking thoughtful, that false curve of his mouth gone.

"I'd like that." His lips quirked.

Naruto had no idea why the sight of a genuine smile on Sai's face should make his neck warm. He hunched his shoulders and stood, his chair skidding loudly against the thin vinyl flooring. "Right. So I'll see you later then. Lock the door on your way out, would you?"

Naruto dumped his bowl in the sink alongside the ever-growing pile of dirty dishes and made quick work of escaping the weight of Sai's gaze on his back.

oOo

"Please don't tell me that's ramen."

Naruto glanced down at the take away he'd picked up from Ichiraku and rubbed his neck sheepishly. "Sorry, I was in a hurry and I didn't know what else to get."

Sakura rubbed her forehead and sighed. "Fine, fine. That's what I get for asking you to bring me lunch."

They sat down on a bench set just outside the hospital gates, in the shade of a large oak tree. He handed her the package and watched silently as she pried apart her chopsticks. She had dabbed her cheeks with blush but he could see how pale she was beneath the weak attempt at color. There were dark smudges beneath her eyes and she looked so brittle that a brisk wind might knock her over.

"You should have asked Tsunade-bachan to give you today off," Naruto said, frowning at the weary slant of her shoulders.

They'd only just returned from a mission the day before, exhausted after a fortnight of little sleep. He'd had every intention of crashing the moment they finished their reports to the Hokage, but Shikamaru, Chouji and Ino had waylaid them outside the tower. The team had extended dinner invitations to them to honor their sensei on the anniversary of his death. Sakura couldn't refuse on account of being Ino's closest friend and Naruto had felt obligated to accept, since he considered Shikamaru and Chouji as good as his own teammates. For reasons unknown, Sai had accepted as well despite that, as far as Naruto could remember, Sai had never even met Asuma.

Unfortunately, dinner had lasted well into the evening and Sakura had an early shift in the morning. She hadn't been allowed the luxury of sleeping in like he and Sai had.

"It's fine; I'll catch a nap after my shift is over." She ate the ramen with small precise bites, as if it took all her concentration just to keep from spilling the bowl of hot noodles down her white uniform. A sharp breeze brought with it the faint chemical smells of disinfectant and formaldehyde. It lifted the hair off the back of her neck and she brushed listlessly at the pink locks that blew across her cheek.

Naruto wanted to argue that she was obviously drawn out beyond what she, being a medic, should have known was healthy. But then she gave him a quick frown to let him know she'd be displeased if he pursued the topic and he reluctantly swallowed back his protests.

"You look almost as bad as I do," she said with a short laugh. She cast him a lopsided smile. "Did you just get up? You didn't even comb your hair."

He patted absently at the blond mop on his head as he contemplated a reply. Would it be wise to tell her about what had happened with Sai? She was a part of their team and anything they did to jeopardize their teamwork was just as much her business—but then again, it really was a private matter and broaching such a delicate topic probably required a subtlety that Naruto just didn't possess. His hands curled in his lap and he imagined he could still feel the warmth on the sheets where Sai had been lying.

He sighed softly and shook his head to release the peculiar array of thoughts. With his luck, Sai would probably blurt out what they'd done the next time they trained and Sakura would beat him into the dirt for not telling her.

But what was there to tell, really, other than that they'd had an... encounter of the non-platonic kind. It wasn't as if they were in a _relationship_ or anything. He knew for a fact that several of his male friends had one night stands all the time—of course, none of them had been with a fellow teammate nor, as far as he knew, with another male. But that was hardly an issue. Guys had one-offs all the time... didn't they? He really couldn't be sure.

"Uuuuh. I should tell you something."

She must have detected his uncertainty because she set down her chopsticks with a light frown and shifted on the bench so that she faced him. He scratched the back of his head and fixed his gaze on a lumpy gray rock next to her foot.

"So, last night I let Sai sleep over because... well, we were all so tired and his house is on the other side of the village and mine was just down the block and I would have offered it to you, too, but you never sleep over because you don't think it's appropriate or some shit even though we've been teammates for _years_— "

"Naruto." She cut him off with a small shake to his shoulders. He'd been speaking so rapidly—wanting to get it over with and delay the words at the same time—that he hadn't paused to take a breath and had been swiftly turning red. "Tell me _slowly_ this time, okay?" She gave him an encouraging smile and nodded for him to continue.

He coughed, grinning weakly, and took a deep breath before beginning again. "So...right, I let Sai sleep over. I gave him a pillow and a blanket, but I guess he's probably never slept at a friend's house before because he got right into bed next to me instead of going to the sofa. But I was too tired to care at that point because it's not like we haven't slept next to each other outside on a mission or whatever, right?"

He paused long enough to allow her a tentative nod. She tilted her head, her eyebrows furrowed in confusion although she was listening attentively.

"So, there we were just sleeping—or at least _I_ was sleeping; who knows why Sai wasn't asleep because I know he was just as tired as the rest of us, the guy's a freaking machine when he wants to be... er, anyway," he said when she cleared her throat pointedly. "It was the middle of the night and suddenly Sai just...kind of...attacked me."

She shook her head and sat back, looking puzzled. "What do you mean he 'attacked' you? Sai wouldn't just... no wait, he would just attack you at random," she said with a small laugh. "But he hasn't done that in a long time."

"It wasn't exactly that kind of an attack." He took a deep breath and blurted out what was sounding increasingly like a confession. "Sai rolled on top of me, pinned me down, and kissed me."

Sakura appeared to have forgotten whatever it was she was going to say because her wan face had gone pink and her jaw fell slack. He barreled on before he lost his nerve.

"So, I totally would have kicked his ass except I think Sai might have done that sort of thing before—not the mauling someone in their sleep part because that's just weird and Sai might be crazy but I don't think he's psychotic, but the _kissing_ part I think he's done before—because he sure knew what he was doing and before I could push him off me, he had his tongue in my mouth and he was _really_ good at that and then his hand was down my pants and he'd shoved my hand down his and it all sort of just spiraled out of control and _god_ he can do some amazing shit with his mouth when he's not saying something completely stupid."

He suspected his face was probably about ten times redder than Sakura's at that point and he realized belatedly that he might have said a bit too much.

"Eeer." He coughed uncomfortably as Sakura shifted to sit forward on the bench again, looking dazed, the bowl of ramen forgotten in her lap. "Too much information?"

"I..."

She was clearly still trying to piece together everything he'd just told her so he didn't push for a response. "Sai seemed pretty cool about it this morning," he said quietly, shrugging so that she'd know it wasn't anything serious. "He acted like nothing had changed, which is fine. I don't want anything to change. It was just a one-time thing. No big deal. Really. I just wanted you to know. In case Sai says anything... weird... later. So... yeah. I'm gonna go now."

He stood up, but not quickly enough. Her hand caught his wrist and, despite how exhausted she looked, the strength she still had was more than enough to force him back down onto the bench.

"What do you mean nothing's changed? This changes _everything_!"

He cringed at the shrill note her voice had suddenly taken. "No, it doesn't. It didn't mean anything, it was just—"

"Sai wouldn't just jump you for nothing, Naruto. He isn't like that. He might be socially inept, but he always has a motive."

She did have a point, Naruto conceded. But Sai had been nothing short of normal (Sai's definition of it anyway) that morning and Naruto really _really_ wanted to stop thinking about what his dark hair had looked like against the curve of his shoulder. "But we've known all along that Sai's a little emotionally constipated; it was probably just another of his tests—"

"_Sasuke_ was emotionally constipated," she said. He rested his hand against his chest and ignored the thread of pain in her voice that echoed inside him at the mention of their missing teammate. "Sai, on other hand, is emotionally _retarded_. And since when are you _gay_?"

He cringed again and averted his gaze when a passing couple started and scurried quickly passed them. Being gay was a concept that had never even passed the _vicinity_ of Naruto's thoughts. He _liked_ women. And breasts! He even liked _Sakura's breasts_, despite her being on the smaller side and that she would probably castrate him if he ever said that aloud.

"I'm not gay," he said, lowering his voice to encourage her to do the same. At her dubious look, he nodded fervently and forgot that he was trying to be discreet. "I'm not! It was a one time thing, I swear."

She shook her head before glancing down at her watch. She swore under her breath. "My break is almost over. Look, find me later, okay? We'll talk."

"No, you need to sleep after work. I'm not talking to you about this until after you've had at least 12 hours of sleep." He crossed his arms and emphasized his words with a firm nod.

She sighed and ran a hand through her limp hair. "Oh, I suppose you're right. I'll talk with you tomorrow then, all right?"

Naruto nodded if only to reassure her. Exhausting the issue would only give it substance and he was eager to just let the incident lie. If Sai could handle it with calm and indifference, then he could do the same.

oOo

Lee's eyes had gone wide—and that was quite a feat considering the already remarkable size of his eye's natural curvature. Naruto slapped a hand over the man's mouth before he could make any uncomfortable outbursts about springtime youth or energy.

"A simple yes or no answer will do," Naruto hissed, glancing over his shoulder to where Neji, Tenten, Kiba and Hinata were sparring.

Lee seemed to understand that Naruto wanted subtlety because he nodded sagely. Naruto dropped his hand to his thigh and twisted the fabric of his pants around his fingers.

"No, I've never had sexual relations with another man. But I've never had any sexual relations with a woman either."

At this, Naruto dropped the bunched up cloth of his pants and frowned. "What? But you're nineteen years old!"

Lee seemed to take offense at this because he drew himself up to his full height, thrust one imperious finger in the air, and replied with false authority, "Sex is something that should be reserved for those united by the unbreakable bond of marriage; it is the ultimate expression of love and youth." He paused before adding, "And I'm saving myself for Sakura-san."

Naruto really should have known better than to ask _Lee_, but he had seemed the most apt to take his question for what it was without prying for additional information (and considering the other two males present, Lee had been the logical choice). His shoulders slumped. "Never mind, just forget I said anything."

"Are you having doubts about your sexuality?"

Naruto knew his face had probably already betrayed him, but he replied with as much dignity as he could muster. "No, I'm not having doubts. I'm just _curious_ if it's... normal... for straight men to have... passing relations with other men."

Lee was looking at him as if he was a particularly difficult jutsu that he wasn't sure he really wanted to learn. "... I think that means you're having doubts about your sexuality."

Naruto's hands fisted, but he resisted the urge to strangle him. Lee was just being honest and it was his honesty that Naruto had sought. "Like I said, just forget it. Sorry I bothered you." He turned away before Lee could offer another opinion and nearly collided with Sai.

"Hello, Naruto," Sai said over Naruto's sputtering. He turned to Lee and nodded politely. "Lee-san." Sai had become rather adept at the art of small talk—or at least until the conversation got past 'how are you, fine thanks'.

Naruto shoved his hands into his pockets and glanced longingly towards the bridge as Lee and Sai exchanged pleasantries. Spring in Konoha was well underway, the cherry trees in full bloom, flanking the river with their long branches extending out over the water. Naruto used to walk along that riverbank, following it downstream towards the lake and the tiny pier where he'd spent long hours unsuccessfully fishing.

"Naruto, do you want to have dinner?"

He started at suddenly being addressed. Lee waved to them as he darted off to join his teammates and Naruto gave him a half-hearted salute before answering Sai. He would have declined except he _had_ told Sai that they could walk later and he supposed a quick stroll to Ichiraku would count. "Sure, I'm starved. I could do with a few bowls of ramen."

"I wasn't thinking about ramen," Sai said as he turned and lead them away from the training grounds.

"Eh? What else would we eat?" Naruto asked.

Sai turned to give him that cheerful little quirk of his lips, but didn't reply. Naruto scowled, immediately suspicious. Sai hardly ever had a preference for where they ate. He badgered Sai some more for a straight answer, all the while casting furtive glances at him. Sai seemed to have completely forgotten about what had transpired between them—that, or he was just being typically blasé.

"Oi, tell me where we're going or I'm going to Ichiraku by myself."

Sai tilted his head, expression contemplative. "You don't like surprises?"

"Not if they're from you."

"But you liked my surprise last night."

Naruto's feet faltered and he ducked his head as he felt his ears burn. "I—that—you—you surprised me." He slapped a hand over his face and groaned miserably. He just couldn't get _any_ lamer. "What I _mean_ to say is that the only reason I didn't kick your perverted ass out of my apartment is because you caught me off guard."

Sai smiled in response. He looked so annoyingly pleased with himself that Naruto seriously contemplated homicide. He could always claim temporary insanity. The old hag would go easy on him.

He must have given away something of what he was thinking because Sai's smile wavered and he said, "We're having pork barbecue."

Naruto's murderous thoughts slid to a halt. Pork barbecue was a strong bargaining chip. Perhaps he would spare Sai, this time. "You're paying."

Sai seemed to take this into consideration before nodding firmly. "Yes. That would be fitting."

"Whatever." Naruto gave himself a mental pat on the back. They had just had a discussion, however brief, about what had happened and no one had died. Clearly the anxiety he'd been carrying around all day had been unnecessary.

Sai had never before even hinted at possessing a sex drive and Naruto had fully believed the man lacked any kind of physical need outside of nourishment. But having been proven wrong quite convincingly, he was content to believe (_had_ to believe) that Sai had acted out of necessity. The man was repressed and had needed an outlet. Naruto wasn't sure how he felt about being used to alleviate sexual frustration, but he could at least put a firm lid on those thin little shades of emotion that loitered at the back of his head.

Sai reached up to run a hand through his hair and Naruto finally felt it safe enough to remember how soft those short strands had been clenched between his fingers. Sai's breath had been hot against his neck, soft lips moving across his flushed skin. Sai's hand had pushed roughly past the waist of his pajama pants and wrapped around him, stroking confidently until any thought of objecting had been thoroughly silenced. Naruto felt his cock jump at the memory and he quickly steered away from that avenue of thought. Everything else aside, the last thing he needed was for Sai to notice he was sporting a hard-on.

They settled into the restaurant and Naruto smirked as he ordered the largest platter they had. Sai seemed to take his gluttony in stride, occasionally dropping odd questions that made Naruto pause. Sai seemed awfully interested in matters he'd never cared to ask about before.

"How long have you been going to Ichiraku?" Sai asked. He reached out to flip a slab of pork over the small grill, but his gaze remained fixed on Naruto's face.

Naruto pursed his lips thoughtfully, turning the question over in his head. "I don't know. For as long as I can remember, I guess. Small bags of groceries sort of just appeared in my apartment every other week, but it's not like I could cook most of what was there anyway. So I just went to Ichiraku when I had some spare money."

Naruto shrugged and made a grand show of filling his cheeks with food so that Sai would stop asking him questions. But Sai just nibbled lightly at his own portions and waited for Naruto to swallow down his own before asking about something else.

"What did you do before you entered the ninja academy? It must have been very..." It only lasted a moment, but Naruto was fairly certain Sai's eyes had flickered with some indistinguishable emotion. It made him sit up straighter in his seat. "Very boring," Sai said softly.

Naruto frowned and looked away, his gaze falling on the peeling bark of an old tree standing just outside their window. "Boring isn't the word I'd use, but... yeah sure. It was boring."

"So then, what did you do?"

Naruto scowled. "Why are you asking me about my childhood?" He was disgruntled enough to actually set his chopsticks down and glare at Sai's perpetually placid expression. It'd been a while since he'd had to remind Sai to respect certain social boundaries, even amongst friends (previous reminders had mainly consisted of 'Mind your own fucking business!').

"It's normal for companions to want to know more about each other," Sai said, unperturbed. "I read in a book that it's more polite to ask about the other person than to carry on about oneself."

Naruto shook his head, exasperated. "When are you going to give those stupid books a rest?" He jabbed at a thick slab of meat and scowled. "A book can tell you objectively what it's like to have a family but... but it can't compare to the feeling you get when your father puts his hand on your shoulder and tells you how proud he is or... or sharing a meal with him and seeing him smile at you for no other reason than just being happy to be there." Naruto clenched his jaw, berating himself for never knowing when to shut up, and steadfastly ignored Sai's curious gaze by stuffing a piece of meat into his mouth.

"But you never knew your father," Sai said evenly.

Naruto knew Sai wasn't intentionally being tactless so he refrained from kicking him underneath the table. "I know. I'm just saying. Iruka-sensei is the closest person I have to a father. And Kakashi and Sakura and... and you, I suppose. And Sasuke," Naruto said, voice trailing off briefly. "You're all like my family now." He shot Sai a scathing look before glancing away again and ignoring the way his cheeks burned. "We're family. So stop reading those stupid books because you don't need them. And stop asking me such personal questions. Weirdo."

Sai stopped speaking almost altogether after that and they ate in companionable silence. Naruto was grateful—saying those things made him feel vulnerable and it was a feeling he loathed. But he was getting tired of Sai thinking he needed books to tell him how to be human. He'd done well enough with that last night... He hunched his shoulders to hide the flush creeping up his neck.

_Stop thinking about it, moron!_ He cupped his head and groaned. Stupid Sai.

"Do you want to see a movie?"

Naruto blinked at Sai through his fingers. "What?"

Sai appeared amused and Naruto flushed again, feeling notably stupid at the number of times Sai had had to repeat himself that day.

"A movie."

"Why?" Naruto quickly shoveled the last of his share of the food into his mouth and patted his distended stomach with a contented sigh. With his stomach full, he felt much more inclined to simply go home and sleep. He still had a lot of rest to catch up on. Kakashi had kept them on a grueling schedule.

"It seemed an appropriate suggestion."

Naruto arched a blond eyebrow at the same remark he'd given that morning. He didn't know what Sai was playing at but he couldn't be bothered enough to care. The nearest theater was in the small trade town fifteen miles east of Konoha and Naruto had no desire to make the short trek just to stare at a screen for a couple hours.

"I think I'm going to head home. I'm pretty tired. You should do the same. You look like you could use the rest." Naruto hadn't noticed it before but Sai did look a little worse for wear. His skin was always pale, but it had taken on a gray pallor that couldn't be healthy.

Sai shrugged and nodded. "I'll walk with you."

They made their way towards Naruto's apartment, Naruto filling the silence with mindless chatter about lunch with Sakura (leaving out some choice details), and training with Lee and the others. Sai listened with a quirk of his lips, genuine amusement in his dark eyes. That was something Naruto had learned to appreciate about Sai. He seemed to honestly enjoy listening to people talk, as if the simple act of open communication was still something novel to him. Of course, it was ruined when he opened his mouth to comment, but Naruto had long-since resigned himself to Sai's candor.

Most of the villagers had retired for the evening and their footsteps echoed loudly down the empty street. The street lamps shone dully above their heads, their soft yellow glow blotting out the stars. Sai's presence beside him, the shuffle of his footsteps across bits of loose gravel, and the content little smile that lingered at his mouth when Naruto fell silent between bouts of conversation were comforting and steady. He glanced over at Sai and admired the way the moon spun silver lights in his hair. It made him want to reach across the thin span of distance and...

Naruto stiffened, his thoughts coming to a screeching halt. He swallowed thickly, shook his head at the curious look Sai cast him, and quickened his pace. What the hell was he thinking? He didn't need this... this... _this_. Sai was _Sai_ and... and he was _male_, but more importantly, he was _Sai_ and he probably didn't even _possess_ the emotional capacity to... Naruto flailed a bit and groaned softly at the complete disorganization of his thoughts. He _seriously_ needed more sleep.

They reached his building and Naruto quickly unlocked his door before turning to wave an eager good-bye to Sai. Except in the second it had taken to open his door, Sai had gone from standing behind him in the walkway to removing his shoes inside Naruto's apartment.

"Uuuh," Naruto said as the little warning bells in his head blared. "What are you doing?"

"I thought we'd have some tea," Sai said. He clasped his hands behind his back and offered a deceptively innocent smile. Naruto eyed him uneasily.

"I don't want any tea."

"But I'm a guest and you should offer me tea."

"You're not a guest if I didn't invite you in."

Sai's expression fell and Naruto kicked the voice inside him that argued Sai _had_ just paid for his dinner and the least he could do was offer the man some tea. So long as tea was all he wanted.

"Argh! Fine, but make it quick because I need my sleep."

Sai smiled before turning away. Naruto paused in toeing off his shoes. Sai could convey an impressive range of emotions through his smiles alone and the one he'd just given him immediately elicited suspicion.

"Sai," Naruto said. He tried to meet Sai's steady gaze but quickly found his own meandering off towards his window and its regrettably frilly yellow curtains. He should have never let Sakura decorate. "Just one cup, okay? I don't know _why_ you didn't just get some at the restaurant."

Sai nodded before unclasping his weapons pouch from his thigh. He set about organizing its contents as Naruto hurried past him to get the tea made. He'd never acquired a taste for tea, having never had to drink it until Sasuke had forced it on him during a mission. And then Sakura had taken the time to show him how to properly brew a pot and Naruto had promised to at least _try_ to appreciate the bland drink.

Sai was fiddling with the scrolls he'd pulled out of his pouch and completely ignoring his host so Naruto felt it safe to watch him as he waited for the water to heat.

Sai bent over an open scroll and made some quick strokes with the brush he'd pulled out of a hidden compartment. His short hair fell across his brow, stark against his pale skin. Naruto had never seen anyone else with skin that pale who wasn't dead. Or Orochimaru. Which really didn't bear thinking about.

He supposed, in a way, that it was attractive. It'd just never occurred to him to think about Sai in any other way than that of a teammate and friend. But the brush of heated skin on skin had been pleasant, regardless of the fact that Sai was male. The strong thighs bracing his hips, the muscular plane of a flat chest, and then the jarring experience of rubbing a cock that wasn't his own had never featured in any of his previous fantasies, and it was vaguely disturbing, although not in an entirely unpleasant way, that he couldn't seem to stop thinking about it now.

He shook his head and attended to the tea. Hadn't he been telling himself all day that it'd been a one-time thing? He shouldn't have to remind himself that he did _not_ want a repeat performance. Barring the fact that Sai was male and he wasn't gay (did one time deals count, really?), becoming physically involved with a teammate was overall an inadvisable decision and would probably land him in a room with Tsunade and Kakashi where they would rail at him about the integrity of teamwork and how being a teenager did not excuse the fact that he was also a _ninja_ and should be better able to control his baser urges.

He sighed and sat on the floor across from Sai to serve the tea. His coffee table wobbled a bit but Naruto steadied it as he poured.

"Thank you," Sai said. He lifted the teacup to his mouth and blew gently across the top.

Naruto's gaze zeroed in on his slightly puckered lips. Sai's mouth was riveting, from the full swell of his lips to the dewy sheen from the steam of his cup. His lips were pale, like the rest of him, but Naruto imagined sucking lightly on that lush bottom lip, nipping and teasing until it was pink and swollen.

"You're staring," Sai said, sounding inordinately pleased by this fact.

Naruto started, realized where his thoughts had gotten off to, and tried without success to stop the blush that rose into his cheeks. "I think you should go. I need the rest because I'm apparently going insane."

Sai regarded him for a long moment as Naruto rotated his cup to keep from looking at him. Now would have been a good time for an earthquake or a flash flood or some other natural disaster. Even an attack from Sound would do, so long as Death by Embarrassment didn't end up on his permanent record. Sai took a small sip from his cup before he set it aside and stood. Naruto breathed a sigh of relief... before sucking it back sharply when Sai rounded the coffee table and straddled him.

"Sai!" Maybe when Sai left and the order of the universe was restored, he would speculate how his voice had managed to reach that pitch.

Sai unbalanced him with a hard push to the shoulder and he sprawled onto his back, mouth agape. It took him approximately two seconds for the situation to fully register—unfortunately, it only took Sai half that time to pin him down.

"I really don't think this is a good idea." Naruto marveled at how calm he sounded when his brain and his body were currently having an emergency press conference to discuss who should lead when faced with a teammate's not-entirely-unwanted advances.

"I can tell that you want me," Sai said. He leaned over so that his breath ghosted Naruto's mouth. "Your pulse and breathing have accelerated and your skin is flushed."

Naruto swallowed and mentally promised to burn all of Sai's books.

"And," Sai added, his lower body shifting so that Naruto's quickly swelling erection pressed snugly within the crease of Sai's buttocks, "you're hard."

Naruto shuddered lightly, his eyelids fluttering shut for the barest of moments. He grit his teeth, wracking his brain for the right words to tell Sai that this wasn't appropriate—further contact was hazardous to their friendship, to their team, to Naruto's self-awareness of everything he'd _thought_ he wanted. But then he opened his eyes and Sai was regarding him with such intensity that the words forming on his lips slipped away like smoke on water.

Sai's hands, warm and insistent, rubbed small circles down his stomach before gathering the hem of his shirt in his fingers and pushing the material up. Finding his arms free, Naruto reached out, hands tightening around the slim curve of Sai's hips with the intent to dislodge him, but Sai's thighs had clamped down on either side of him. Sai smirked, dark eyes alight with something Naruto didn't want to put a name to, before he leaned over and pressed their lips together. Hands were suddenly in his hair, fingers twisting through the thick blond locks to keep him from turning away.

Sai's lips were soft, still moist from the tea, dropping light kisses and nipping at the corners of Naruto's mouth.

"Why are you doing this?" Naruto whispered before being abruptly silenced by Sai's tongue. He whimpered, a small thin moan at the back of his throat, as the thick muscle swept past his lips, tracing lightly over the contours of his mouth.

One hand slipped from his hair to wrap around his wrist. Naruto gasped when Sai tugged his hand backward so that he was suddenly cupping Sai's buttock. Sai pulled back just long enough for Naruto to blink owlishly up at him.

"Because I want to." His voice was whisper soft, but delivered the words with a nuance of surprise.

Naruto wasn't sure how to interpret the quiet admission. He wasn't given a chance to because Sai squeezed his wrist, painfully so, so that Naruto's fingers convulsed, digging into the firm curve of muscle. Sai rocked gently against him, buttocks clenching, sweet friction against the rigid length of his erection.

Every excuse he'd been recycling through his head all day grew fuzzy and indistinct. Clarity escaped him, like flakes of ash dancing just beyond his fingertips before crumbling beneath the heat that was burning in his skin. Sai's mouth devoured his, lips and teeth and tongue moving in sync, an orchestrated effort to completely dismantle his reservations. Sai shifted, hands moving to brace his weight on either side of Naruto's head as he rose to his knees.

His lips slid from Naruto's mouth, teeth scoring lightly down his jaw before falling away. Naruto opened his eyes when Sai kneed his legs apart and, after a moment's hesitation, allowed the bold invasion. Sai sat back between his parted thighs, hands trailing down over the curve of Naruto's shoulders, the plane of his chest, the slight jut of his hips. He watched with breath held as Sai lowered his head and rubbed his cheek against the bulge in his pants. Then he turned his face, lips parting to mouth the line of his erection, breath hot through the fabric and Naruto couldn't recall a single reason why he'd ever thought this was a bad idea.

Fingers tugged at the waist of his pants and he lifted his hips to accommodate them. Cool air washed over his exposed skin and he shivered lightly. Sai lifted his gaze and Naruto swallowed thickly at the hunger he saw brimming in those dark eyes. He wanted to ask if Sai knew what he was doing, if he was sure... but any thought of speaking was stifled when Sai lowered his head.

Naruto fought the urge to drop his head back and close his eyes as Sai wrapped a firm hand around his cock and trailed soft lips up the side, sucking gently when he reached the tip. His other hand cupped Naruto's hip, thumb rubbing soothing circles into the lean skin. Any question of whether or not Sai had done this before was soundly answered when he parted his lips and inched his way down the entire length of Naruto's cock.

"Nnnng, _fuck_." His eyes slid shut for a moment, the damp heat of Sai's mouth overriding any other sensation.

He reached out an unsteady hand to cup the side of Sai's head, his fingers pushing into the short black hair. Sai's lips, slick and full, clamped wetly around him, sucking gently as he moved, tongue rubbing into the thick underside. Naruto sucked his bottom lip into his mouth and bit down to keep from crying out. His face and chest felt overheated. The thin cotton of his shirt suddenly felt oppressive. His lip slipped from between his teeth and his breath escaped in quiet, urgent moans.

His toes curled into the rough carpet as Sai sucked harshly before pulling away. Naruto groaned Sai's name, too far-gone to be embarrassed by the breathy desperation in his voice.

"Do you want to come in my mouth, Naruto?" Sai asked, voice a husky rasp.

Naruto's eyes widened and his balls clenched at the mental image. His mind supplied the immediate answer (yes, yes, oh my god, _yes_) but his mouth was hesitant to complete the thought. Was there some unwritten rule about overstepping the boundaries of intimacy with a teammate? Physical release was one thing, but did it mean something else to actually finish inside him? Was a mouth that much different than his... Naruto's eyes rolled back at the thought of fucking Sai.

Sai seemed to come to his own conclusion because he bent back over and swallowed Naruto whole. Naruto gasped and his back arched—thighs trembling, muscles straining, eyes cracked open just enough to watch Sai move as he panted his name in between ragged breaths. He grunted in warning before his entire body jerked, the dark stain of Sai's hair blurring into the white of his walls as his ragged cry tore through the stillness of his apartment.

It was several long moments before Naruto was capable of moving again. His hand slipped from Sai's hair and he groaned softly as he shifted against the hard carpet at his back. His eyes fluttered open just long enough to see Sai licking his lips thoughtfully and he laughed, a short burst of frenetic disbelief, before he fell silent and his eyes slid shut again. He didn't even have the energy to see what Sai was up to when he felt the man shift above him.

Nimble hands pushed up his shirt. Cool fingers lingered on his lightly damp skin before grabbing fist fulls of cloth and tugging patiently. Naruto lifted his arms and allowed Sai to pull his shirt off, glad of the cool air that breathed across his heated skin. The high he'd been floating on was beginning to clear and he opened his eyes to find that Sai had divested himself of all clothing and was now crawling on top of him again. The haze of orgasm immediately parted, leaving him abashed but alert. Sai straddled his stomach, knees tucked up beneath Naruto's arms. His eyes widened as his gaze snapped to Sai's very much erect penis.

"S-Sai... ?" He'd never given head before, had never really thought about giving head before, and wasn't quite sure he'd live up to Sai's performance. Plus, he very much doubted he was flexible enough to reach his erection from the position they were in.

Sai braced one hand on Naruto's chest and rose a bit on his knees. He circled a flat dusky nipple before rolling it gently between thumb and forefinger. His other hand rose to his own chest, palm smoothing down the pale expanse of skin. He trailed his fingers through the patch of dark hair between his legs, making Naruto's breath catch at how erotic a sight he made, before wrapping a hand around his own cock.

"Sai, what—" Naruto began but Sai shook his head sharply.

"Just watch," he said. His head fell back, the long slope of his neck pale and inviting. Naruto groaned softly, hands lifting to touch that endless span of unmarked skin. Naruto had never noticed it, had never had reason to take note of it before, but Sai was beautiful. His cheeks and chest were flushed pink, his muscles stretching and contracting, limbs graceful even while jerking himself off. He arched lightly as Naruto's hands passed over the small of his back and squeezed each buttock briefly. His fingers teased the seam and he toyed with the idea of spreading the cheeks apart and dipping inside... but he wasn't nearly brave enough to carry through with his curiosity just yet.

His hands moved away from the temptation, splaying across the hard plain of Sai's stomach. Sai's breathing was growing heaver, his breath coming in harsh, thin pants.

Naruto blinked down at their position, unsure of what Sai wanted of him. "Sai, what should I—"

"I want to come on you."

Naruto choked on whatever else he'd been about to say and his face flushed. "I... I... "

"Please, Naruto," Sai breathed. His eyes cracked open and Naruto met his gaze from beneath the sweep of his lashes, heady and imploring.

"Okay," Naruto said, voice small, still uncertain but willing to acquiesce. Sai wasn't asking for reciprocation of what he'd just given him, for which Naruto was grateful. He wasn't sure how he felt yet about having another man's cock in his mouth, but this, at least, he could give him.

Sai nodded and his eyes drifted shut again, his hand increasing in speed. Naruto watched in fascination as Sai's entire body strained and a quiet, nearly inaudible gasp slipped past his mouth before his eyes abruptly snapped open, dark gaze intense as he came. Naruto stiffened and braced himself as come spattered across his chest and neck in thick viscous lines, stray drops landing on his chin and the corner of his mouth.

He watched as the sharp lines of Sai's body slowly relaxed, the pink flush of his skin fading back into pristine sweeps of alabaster. Sai sighed softly, a small content little sound, and ran a hand over his face before smiling down at him. Naruto tried to swallow and wondered why he was suddenly having difficulty breathing.

"So... um." Really, what did one say after these kinds of things? 'Thanks, it was great, see you later' just didn't quite seem right.

Sai leaned over and he watched warily until he had to look away or become cross-eyed. Sai's mouth pressed to his, tongue brushing tenderly across his bottom lip. Hands found their way into his hair and he couldn't help the breathy moan of pleasure that escaped. It wasn't a base kind of pleasure, but the kind that came from warmth and contentment and it startled Naruto enough to jerk away. He blinked, confused and uncertain by the unfamiliar tightening in his chest, so he did nothing. He lay still as Sai's hands cupped his head and kissed him in a way Naruto imagined a lover might.

But they weren't lovers, Naruto's head insisted. Sai had been so casual about what had happened the night before—and even now, despite the tender kisses, he didn't seem inclined to discuss whatever it was that was happening between them. _Because nothing is happening!_ his brain supplied. _Girls_ talked about their feelings. Guys did what needed to be done and that was the end of it.

Of course, Naruto would probably never be able to look at Sai again and not think about how he looked when he came, but... he'd face that obstacle when he reached it.

A ribbon of come slid wetly down his neck to pool behind his shoulder. He made a face and pulled away from Sai. "Eeer. I should clean up."

Sai smiled and rose to his feet, giving Naruto a brief, unobstructed view of his ass and balls before he turned away and disappeared into the bathroom.

"Or, you know," Naruto muttered as he sat up, "you can first." He grimaced at the mess sliding down his chest. "Okay, _so_ not as hot as in the porn films."

He ran a hand through his hair and tugged harshly in frustration. He took several deep breaths as he reconciled himself with the fact that Sai had just... and he'd... As the full impact of what had just happened hit him, he covered his face and suffered his first full body blush, glowing pink with incredulous disbelief from his toes to the roots of his hair.

_Oh my god,_, he thought frantically before quickly putting a cap on the rising hysteria. Reminding himself to breathe, he was also struck by the sudden revelation that this probably meant he was gay. Curiously, this didn't bother him quite as much as he might have expected. Next to the undeniable fact that he'd just let Sai give him a blowjob and then jerk off all over him, being gay was a rather simple truth to accept.

_Sai_ was the real dilemma... or maybe not Sai in so much as what Sai was making him feel. Naruto groaned at how ridiculous that sounded even in his head.

Sai had grown tolerable over the years and he was even easy to get along with when he wasn't saying something completely stupid—but according to some, the same could be said of Naruto and it was a comparison he rather resented. But everything aside, he felt it safe to say he'd probably miss Sai watching his back when he returned to ANBU, whenever that might be. He would even go so far as to say he'd miss Sai's company—he was generally quiet and observed people with disturbing detail, but he was also amusing and always said exactly what was on his mind.

He sighed and drew mindless circles into the carpet as he waited for Sai to emerge from the bathroom. It would be much easier to think objectively about it all when he wasn't sitting covered in his teammate's come. He rubbed a hand over his face and wished he could be like Sai, capable of giving pleasure without giving himself in the process.

Naruto flopped back onto the floor and threw his arm over his face. "God, I'm screwed."

---


	2. Part 2

**Wavelengths**

_Part II_

Two weeks passed, during which a pattern seemed to form that Naruto found both greatly distressing and impossible to prevent. He brought lunch to Sakura nearly every day and she was relentless in picking at his motives for the continued intimacy with Sai when he supposedly didn't feel anything other than camaraderie with him. Naruto forgave her her presumptions because she was a woman and women tended to blame everything on emotions, however trivial the situation. Never mind that he really was beginning to like Sai far more than a teammate ought to—Sakura, on account of being a woman, could probably intuit his feelings anyway.

He chose to ignore the fact that he was being contradictory because Sakura humored him and he really didn't want to have to explain his feelings..._ever_.

After delivering lunch to Sakura, he continued onto Ichiraku where he had a bowl or ten of ramen and then made for the training grounds to meet Sai and various members of other teams that frequented the grounds at that time of day. They trained until sunset and then Sai and Naruto left for dinner and retired to Naruto's apartment afterwards.

It was what went on in his apartment in the evenings that distressed him because despite repeated attempts to ward off Sai's advances, it took little more than a heated kiss or a hand in his hair before he was falling hopelessly into sensation. He was becoming all too fond of the feel of Sai's skin beneath his hands and the small, happy smile Sai gave him before he left. He had even been tempted a few times to ask Sai to stay the night... which had then triggered the alarms in his head and forced him to accept that perhaps the situation had spiraled out of his control (when had he ever been in control, he wanted to know).

He _liked_ Sai. And he wanted to impale himself on a bed of shuriken for it. Sure, Sai seemed to be awfully skilled at seduction, but he was inept when it came to actual _emotions_. In all likelihood, he probably felt nothing more deeply than friendship for Naruto—and really, it'd be unfair to expect more than that from a man as stunted as Sai.

Naruto bemoaned the sorry state of his life and hoped their next mission would be soon in coming as he carried a box of fried fish to the hospital. The morning had been unseasonably cool and Naruto hugged Sakura's lunch to his chest in a futile attempt to keep the heat from escaping too quickly. He frowned up at the sky, squinting to pick out the sun from behind the solid wall of drab gray clouds. How fitting that even the weather mocked him by reflecting his mood.

When he reached the familiar stone pillars that stood at the hospital gates, Sakura wasn't there waiting for him as per usual. He leaned against one of the pillars, angling himself so that he was shielded from the sharp breath of the wind. Sakura was rarely late so after a few minutes of waiting, he grew concerned. He continued on inside and greeted the nurse at the desk with a cheery smile.

"Can you page Sakura? I've got her lunch here," he said. He set the box, slightly battered from his handling, on the counter.

The nurse looked from the box to him, expression puzzled. "Haven't you heard? Sakura was on patrol duty last night and ran into some missing nin. She was brought in around 1 a.m."

"_What?_" He felt his chest seize before his heart plummeted into his stomach. He practically leaped over the counter, frantic eyes boring into the alarmed nurse. "Where is she? What room is she in?"

"U-um." The nurse twitched away from him, flustered by his proximity, and quickly flipped through her stack of papers. "Room 213."

Naruto shot down the hallway in a blur of yellow, relief singing through his limbs, Sakura's fried fish a forgotten detail. Room 213 was just a standard hospital room, nowhere near the intensive care unit. He skidded to a stop outside her room, heart hammering in his chest. The cool dread that had been twisting his stomach loosened as he sensed Sakura's steady chakra on the other side of the door. He cleared his throat to dislodge the bundle of frazzled nerves there before pushing the door open.

Sakura glanced up from the thick medical text in her lap and, upon seeing who her visitor was, attempted a bright smile that fell distinctly short. Her hair was tied back away from her face, which was wan and leeched of color. Her left shoulder and arm was tightly bound in bandages but there was no telling how extensive her injuries were since the rest of her was covered with thin hospital blankets. He approached her bed, lips down turned, looking her over to ensure she was completely in tact.

"I just heard. Why didn't you send for me?" he asked. He crossed his arms and attempted a scowl, but did about as convincing a job of it as she had with her smile. He wanted to be upset that he'd had to hear about her attack from the nurse, but he was really just profoundly relieved to see her in one piece.

"Because it wasn't serious," she said.

She closed her book and turned to set it on the nightstand alongside a thin vase of flowers. The clear plastic vase and carnations were standard issued hospital décor. He felt slightly mollified that she hadn't contacted anyone else about the attack either because Ino would have surely removed the tasteless floral choice by now had she been by.

"I spotted them while patrolling the western flank. At first I wasn't sure if they were Konoha ninjas or not but then they attacked me, which pretty much confirmed they were missing nin. By the way they moved and the levels of their chakra, I'd wager they were S rank." She shrugged, as if nearly getting killed was nothing to harp about. And in their line of work, he supposed it wasn't. "Luckily, I wasn't too far from Konoha's western wall."

"You didn't try to fight them, did you?"

She gave him a weary smile. "Of course not. I was outnumbered and I couldn't very well report their presence if I was dead, could I?"

He paled at the thought. "Sakura." He shifted on his feet and shoved his hands into his pockets to hide their slight tremor. "I... I'm glad you're okay."

He moved to stand by the window so she wouldn't see what the thought of her dying did to him. He squeezed his eyes shut, pushing away the unnecessary emotion. She was fine. It was better to focus on what course to take now. His eyes narrowed on a distant point beyond the scope of the view. The sun had yet to break through the clouds and the span of the horizon was cast in dark, turbulent shades of blue and green. The weather was an unwitting aid for the missing nin who were lurking somewhere out there amidst the trees. Fortunately, it was just as advantageous to their hunters.

His feet itched to tear from her hospital room and raze the forest, flush out the ninjas who hurt her so he could return the injuries they'd inflicted tenfold... but Tsunade was forever berating him for acting on his impulses and subsequently putting himself and others in dangerous situations. She would have been told immediately about the missing nin and was probably at that moment organizing a scouting party to search the area. She wouldn't deny him if he asked to join the search.

"Naruto," she said, her voice tentative, as if sensing his unrest.

He forced his mouth to curl into a smile before turning back to face her. She studied his face, eyes clear and searching, before her gaze slid away. Reaching up, she pulled the tie from her hair. It tumbled in loose waves around her face, still damp where the tie had rested, indicating a recent shower. She patted the edge of her bed, beckoning him to sit with her.

He moved to comply, sliding carefully across the mattress to avoid jarring her injuries. He tucked the blanket a bit more snugly around her, earning him an indulgent smile, before asking, "Did you recognize the missing nin?"

Her smile faltered and she tilted her head, pink bangs falling forward to shield her eyes. It was fortunate Sakura had never been able to master the dubious ninja art of stoicism. He reached out and grasped her chin between his thumb and forefinger before forcing her to meet his gaze. She glowered at him for his impudence but deflated at the solemn look in his eyes. She sighed and gently brushed his hand away.

"I can't be sure but... one of them was wearing the exact same ring I saw on Sasori's hand when I fought him. I'm assuming they were Akatsuki but... like I said, I can't be sure. They weren't wearing anything else to identify who they were, not even those weird cloaks."

His jaw had tightened at the first mention of Sasori, his lips flattening into an angry line. He felt warm fingers against his hand and looked down, surprised to see Sakura gently uncurling his tightly clenched fist. At any other time, he would have been ecstatic to receive her soothing touches, but he didn't want to be pacified. He shook his head and pulled away.

"If those assholes are after me again, I'm going to—ack!" He retreated from the bed, feet stumbling backward. He rubbed the rising bump on his head where she had smacked him and stammered out, "Oi! Why'd you do that?"

"I told you, I can't be sure! Don't jump to conclusions," she said, green eyes flashing. She dragged her medical text back into her lap and flipped it open, looking angry and harried. It was clear that she was much more concerned than she let on, probably for him. He cleared his throat, feeling suitably contrite for adding to her anxiety.

"Sorry," he mumbled. He rested his back against the wall and frowned down at his feet. His lips twisted into an impatient moue as he scuffed the heel of his sandal against the polished linoleum tiles. "But if it_is_ them, then I'm not just going to hide in the village and let everyone else fight for me."

"Naruto—"

"No," he said, cutting her off sharply. She bit her lip, drawing back against her pillows, surprised by his tone of voice. He rarely raised his voice in anything but enthusiasm to her. He understood her concern and he appreciated it—_deeply_ appreciated it. But he would never be able to just stand by and watch, not even for her. "You can't expect me to sit back while the rest of you fight._Don't_ ask it of me."

She stared down at her lap, brows drawn. "I know," she whispered.

There was a light tap at the window and they both looked up to find a small carrier pigeon pecking lightly at the window, a small scrap of paper tied to its foot. Naruto pushed away from the wall, eager for news or an order to act. The last two weeks had been sluggish in pace, measured only by Naruto's anxiety over the tragedy that was his love life. He'd had his fill of rest; he was ready for the heady rush of adrenaline to flush away the dregs of inaction.

He slid the window open and reached out an arm. The bird landed obediently on the curve of his hand, tiny claws digging lightly into his skin. He quickly retrieved the note and the bird took off, rounding the corner of the hospital and disappearing from view. He knew it was a summons before he even opened the missive. He glanced up at Sakura but her expression was hard to decipher.

He read the brief message and nodded in approval. The Hokage wanted him in her office immediately. Hopefully, she'd be sending their team out to search for the missing nin.

That, or she wanted him to stay put and keep out of trouble's way, in which case she had best be prepared for a tantrum the likes of which Konoha had yet to see.

"The Hokage wants me in her office." He tucked the message into his back pocket before approaching her bedside. "I'm really glad you're okay, Sakura. And I wish you could come with us."

She nodded and tried to smile, but he could see her concern weighing down the corners of her mouth. "Me too. Be careful."

oOo

Kakashi and Sai were already present when Naruto barreled into the Hokage's office, demanding to be sent with the scouting party. Kakashi greeted him with a painful look that might have meant either 'why is he still my student' or 'I have a serious case of the drips' but Sai didn't acknowledge him, his vacant expression shifting only minutely. Naruto ignored the way his stomach twisted at his regard, focusing instead on blistering the Hokage's ears if she was of a mind to keep him back.

Tsunade arched an eyebrow, unimpressed with his bluster. She waved a negligent hand at him. "Shut up and sit, runt."

Naruto contemplated this. She'd probably be more accommodating if he obeyed for now. He nodded and took a seat beside Sai.

"As I'm sure you've all heard by now, a couple of missing nin were spotted just west of Konoha last night. I've already sent Gai and his team ahead to investigate but I need you three to follow up and make sure they haven't run into any trouble."

Naruto grinned, relieved that she wouldn't try to coddle him. He fidgeted in his seat, fingers tapping restlessly against the chair's arms, anxious to set out. He straightened when Tsunade pointed an imposing finger at him.

"_You_. Be careful and let Kakashi lead. _Don't_ run after them if you get separated and, for god's sake, control yourself out there."

Naruto's face grew darker with each order, his fingers gouging holes into the wood of his chair. He was perfectly capable of controlling himself! In fact, after he ripped them apart for hurting Sakura, he'd let Kakashi and Sai tie them up and deliver them to Ibiki.

Tsunade glared at them, brown eyes hard and assessing. "Well? Why the hell are you still standing there? Get moving!"

Naruto was the first out the door. He gestured impatiently at Sai and Kakashi as he stormed down the hallway, even though their team leader was quite suddenly conspicuously absent. He was probably halfway through Konoha already and would be waiting for them at the gates, pretending as though _they_ were the tardy ones in the group.

"Hurry up, Sai, or I'm leaving you—" Naruto was cut off when a strong hand latched onto his upper arm and slammed him back into an alcove. His head hit the wall with an audible crack, pain shooting down his back. He lashed out at his attacker just as Sai's body covered his. "What the..." Naruto could hardly get out a protest before Sai's tongue was in his mouth and warms hands slipped underneath his shirt. "I...Sa..._ungh_... Sa—Sai... Sai, _stop!_"

He twisted his face away before rearing back and butting Sai in the head. With a startled grunt, Sai broke away.

"God, what the hell is your problem?" Naruto shoved at him, but Sai brought both arms up, palms flat against the wall, blocking Naruto in. His eyes narrowed, fists curling around the fabric of Sai's shirt. "Now _really_ isn't the best time for this." His hands shook, an irrational fury rising inside him at being hindered, at the excess of energy churning in his gut that needed to be released, at the missing nin who'd hurt Sakura, but most of all, Naruto realized with the kind of shattering awareness that stole the breath from his lungs that he was furious with Sai and his inability to find anything other than physical pleasure in their encounters.

Sai leaned forward, forcing Naruto to press back against the wall, despite that he knew very well it wouldn't give. Sai's breath was warm against his mouth and it smelled like apples, a favorite snack of his. Naruto closed his eyes and pushed away all those stupid little desires that he'd known from the start he couldn't and shouldn't want. He didn't have time to deal with them, or Sai, at the moment anyway.

"You wanted to know where I'd learned how to pleasure another person."

Naruto's eyes opened and he angled a confused look at Sai, momentarily taken aback. Yes, he recalled he _had_ asked that question at some point in the previous week, but Sai hadn't provided an answer—instead, he'd given further demonstration of those skills and Naruto's ability to string together words had been completely shot for several hours afterwards.

"I don't see what that has to do with anything," he said, keeping a short rein on his temper. He elbowed Sai in the ribs but the man didn't budge.

"Danzou-sama said my appearance was suited for missions that required a different approach. He sent me to be trained in the ways of seduction," Sai said. His demeanor suggested that he had accepted the new training as nothing more than another aspect of his duties as a ninja.

Naruto scoffed before the full import of what Sai was telling him sank in. His jaw went slack and he turned within the barrier of Sai's arms to fully face him. Frowning, his fists released the bunched up folds of Sai's shirt and he smoothed out the creases left behind with gentle, shaking fingers. The anger ebbed, suddenly feeling petty next to the severity of truth.

"I'm sorry," he said. His hands crept up Sai's neck, fingers sliding into the hair at the nape of his neck.

Sai fingers curled against the wall, his eyes betraying his confusion. "For what?"

Naruto shook his head and swallowed tightly, overcome with the daft urge to either hug the man or shake some sense into him. The burn of ire flared again in his gut, accompanied by an uncomfortable but familiar ache in his chest. Sai couldn't help the way he was; he had been conditioned to accept certain methods without the knowledge that they were unorthodox, even within a ninja society. It was a mark of his motivation to improve and evolve past childhood doctrines that Sai was even there with him.

Naruto was divided. On the one hand, the restlessness was still there, urging him to forcibly remove Sai and stop wasting time better spent on tracking down the missing nin. On the other hand, he now had a burning desire to hunt down the head of ANBU Root and strangle him with his own entrails for turning a ninja of Sai's caliber into a... a...

Naruto shook his head. It didn't bear thinking about. Ninjas were tools of war, but there had to be _some_ limitations to what a ninja was required to perform to fulfill his duties.

"Why are you telling me this now?" Naruto asked. Nothing Sai did seemed to make sense lately. He bit the inside of his cheek, indecision keeping him rooted more firmly than the screen of Sai's arms. He didn't like feeling so uncertain; he was a man of action. He let his instincts guide him. But Sai was so... deceptively _complicated_ and Naruto was abysmal in the matter of managing a relationship, even one as dubious as theirs.

"Because," Sai said. A small line formed between his brows and it took Naruto a moment to realize that Sai was actually frowning. "Danzou-sama made sure my range of abilities was broad enough to encompass what I might have had to do those years ago when I first joined your team. I was ordered to do whatever was necessary to get to Sasuke, even if it meant going through Orochimaru, or his bed."

Naruto felt something savage and heated twist in his stomach and he hissed in expletive but Sai ignored his reaction, continuing on in that maddeningly even tone of voice.

"Sakura wasn't deemed a threat and, although I couldn't match Yamato-sensei, I was fast enough to elude him if necessary. As for you," he said, stepping close enough so that his breath brushed Naruto's lips. Naruto lowered his eyes, wanting to shove Sai away and tell him to _shut up_ at the same time he wanted to silence him by crushing their mouths together. He scowled, no longer certain who he was angry with anymore. "I was taught to manipulate seals."

Naruto's gaze snapped back to his in surprise. "Seals? What do you mean?"

Sai was staring at him, eyes dark and beguiling in their sudden depth. He dropped his arms and glanced away. "I'm sorry, Naruto."

"What do you—?" Naruto eyes widened in comprehension just as Sai's fingers brushed his stomach and pain exploded inside him. Kyuubi's chakra ripped from its cage and there was a blinding moment of white-hot pain as he glimpsed the determination in Sai's eyes before everything went black.

oOo

When it became apparent that he wasn't dead or ravaging the village as Kyuubi, the first coherent thought to form was, '_Sai is a dead man._'

Naruto cracked open an eye and groaned at a sight he was well familiar with. He was in a room located in the private ward of the hospital, several long and winding corridors away from the hospital proper. It was where he met with the Hokage every few months to check his seal. Typically the room was bright and airy, the curtains drawn and the window open to let in the breeze—all minor acts of consideration on Tsunade's part so that Naruto wouldn't feel like a test subject when he came in.

At the moment, the drapes had been replaced with thick wood-slat blinds and the window was shut. The lights had been dimmed and there was the sharp tang of burnt chakra lingering in the air. The walls glowed dully and it took him only a moment to decipher why—they were being reinforced with considerable amounts of chakra.

Naruto sat up, anger and confusion surging through him. He shook his head to dispel the wave of thoughts and emotions rising inside him. Why, _why_...? He sucked in a breath of air that did little to calm him and tried not to think about that just yet. He carefully molded his chakra and when nothing unusual happened, he jerked up his shirt to see that his seal appeared unchanged. The reinforced walls were proof that _something_ had happened but it seemed Sai hadn't done any permanent damage.

_Sai_. He grit his jaw and squeezed his eyes shut, but couldn't delay the stab of helpless fury that wracked him. The tightness in his chest_ached_ and he felt disjointed and out of breath. His eyes burned and he rubbed at them, horrified at the sudden sting, swift and sharp like a whip. _Stop it, stop it, stop it. _

There was a knock at his door and he stiffened before rolling onto his side. He buried his face in the crook of his elbow, teeth sinking painfully into the skin of his arm to stifle the crushing anger.

The door swung open into his room and he immediately recognized the familiar pulse of Sakura's chakra. He took a steadying breath, the rigid lines of his shoulders bunching in resignation before he rolled to face her. She started, eyes widening when she realized he was awake.

"Naruto." Her voice was hesitant even as she rushed to his bedside, warm hands flitting over him to check his vitals. "How are you feeling? When did you wake? Are you disoriented? Does anything hurt?"

_Plenty_, he thought bitterly before pushing away the unwelcome emotion. "I'm fine, Sakura. What happened?"

She laid a soothing hand against his cheek and bit her lip. She seemed reluctant to speak and Naruto swallowed back the urge to snap at her for answers.

"Well, for starters," she said, "Tsunade-shishou says you're going to be just fine. There wasn't any lasting damage to your seal as far as she could tell. One of the eight points of the seal keeping the fox imprisoned was temporarily weakened, but it didn't affect the strength of the other points so the seal remained in tact. It just kind of... knocked you out. Seems Sai was looking to decommission you for a while."

At the mention of Sai, his eyes flickered away. He ran a hand through his hair to keep from reaching out and strangling something. "Sai... _fucking_ Sai. What the hell did he mean by attacking my seal like that? Did he not want me on the mission _that_ badly? I know I'm not always the most rational person but I wouldn't have compromised our safety or... _god_, when I get my hands on him, I'm going to _mutilate_ him. What am I to him, a fuck buddy? Is that all I'm good for now? I'm not good enough to fight alongside him anymore? Agh!" He clutched his head, wanting nothing more than a sturdy rock wall to plant his fist into again and again until exhaustion dampened the burn of betrayal in his gut.

She rubbed small circles into his back, but didn't speak. She seemed to understand that he needed a moment to vent his frustration.

"I'm so pathetic." He rubbed his face. He didn't want to look at her and let her see everything he was unable to hide. "I don't understand what's changed. Why would he do that to me?" Hadn't he repeatedly told himself that physical involvement with Sai was a bad idea? Why couldn't he have listened to his gut rather than his libido? "I knew from the start that Sai probably didn't feel anything but friendship for me. I wasn't planning to expect anything more from him."

Her hand had dropped to her side and he glanced at her to gauge her reaction. He was surprised to find she was glaring at him, her eyes flashing with impatience. He shifted uneasily, uncertain if her anger was directed at him or Sai. He supposed being a complete fool would warrant that look.

"Naruto," she said, her voice measured with forced patience. "Had it been up to me, I wouldn't have wanted you to go either."

He drew back as if struck, confusion and hurt twisting his face. "I told you I could never just stand back and—"

"_I know_. And I'd never ask it of you. But not everyone would think to ask."

He frowned, sinking into his bed and crossing his arms. "I already know Sai didn't want me on that mission. I just want to know _why_."

She made a small annoyed sound and rubbed her forehead. "Sai knows you're capable of taking care of yourself. We've been a team for too long for him to doubt that."

He pursed his lips, feeling distinctly at a loss. He was missing something here, something vital, and he wished she'd just spit it out and tell him already. If Sai hadn't attacked his seal because he thought of Naruto as a liability then what reason would he have had to keep him from going? Sai's motives were still as unclear as powdered water.

Sakura was giving him an expectant look. He really didn't appreciate her adding to his anger by confusing him with her failed attempts to explain. "I don't see your point."

"Ugh! You are _such_ a moron! Why would _I_ want to keep you from going?"

The answer came easily. "Because you wouldn't want me getting hurt."

She beamed. He didn't get it.

What did that have to do with...? Oh. _Oh._

Naruto's eyes widened. Then he scowled. "That's…no way! Sai wouldn't... he doesn't..."

She took a deep breath, apparently satisfied with the conclusion he'd finally reached. "If it's any consolation, Sai is a complete idiot too. But I don't think he was trying to hurt you. He just wanted to protect you."

He was beyond skeptical. "I don't need protecting."

"I know that. And normally, Sai does too but... well, honestly, I have no idea what he's thinking half the time, but I can guess." Sakura perched herself at the edge of Naruto's vacated bed, her gaze falling to her lap. Her expression shifted from frustration to something else, something Naruto couldn't quite place. "As far as we know, the only person Sai has ever cared about was the guy he called his brother, the one from his old book. And... and all we know about _him_ is that he died."

He sighed. He didn't need to be reminded of the things Sai had gone through before coming to Team Seven.

"When we met Sai," she said, "he was incapable of feeling _anything_ and why do you think that is?"

His eyes narrowed at the memory of what Sai had told him just before attacking him. In retrospect, Sai had probably been trying to throw him off. His ability to manipulate had apparently improved in recent years. Despite that, however, he didn't think Sai had been dishonest. "Because his superior, that Danzou asshole, made him that way."

She bit her lip and rubbed her thumb over the back of her hand in a mindless gesture. "Yes. Possibly. Probably. But maybe... maybe he also didn't want to ever feel the pain of losing someone close to him again."

He slid up his bed, pushing his pillow down to cushion his back. He rested his head against the wall, the flow of chakra buzzing lightly against the back of his head, and closed his eyes, remembering the nearly paralyzing fear he'd felt when he heard Sakura had been injured by the missing nin. "Sai doesn't care about me that way."

He glanced up at her and was startled to find her hands had curled into fists and she was glaring at him as though contemplating which of his limbs should go first.

"You are the _thickest_... ugh!" She slapped a hand over her forehead and muttered a prayer for patience before continuing. "Why else would Sai want to protect you?"

He tightened his jaw, exasperated with their topic of conversation. He was glad the debilitating grief of another betrayal, another team broken, had subsided, but Sakura was grasping for a happy ending that Naruto wasn't sure existed.

When he failed to reply, she said, "Because he _cares about you_, Naruto."

He jerked upright, eyes blazing. "That's bullshit! Sai knows damn well I don't need protecting and he wouldn't have fucking attacked me just to keep me safe. He's been a part of our team for three years and he fucking _knows_ I've never let the Akatsuki take me—"

"But every time it happens, you come out of it with so many injuries it's a wonder you're still alive!" Sakura planted her fists on her hips and met Naruto's glare. They both fumed silently for several long seconds, adamant in their own opinion, before Sakura deflated. "Look, Naruto, I'm just making guesses, okay? Maybe I'm wrong. But maybe I'm not. Talk to him before you make any assumptions, okay?"

Naruto sank back down into the bed, arranging his blankets around him with sharp, angry movements. "Why the hell didn't the old hag arrest him anyway? Stupid, idiotic..." He continued to mutter insults under his breath as Sakura sighed in exasperation.

"Like I said, his intent hadn't been to hurt you. He was gone from the tower by the time the ANBU guards reached you. He went out to find Gai's Team on his own, but Kakashi-sensei sensed him and followed him out. They just got back a few hours ago and he's already met with Tsunade-shishou. I think the worst she can do is remove him from the team and return him to ANBU."

He didn't know how he felt about that. He was still pissed, but to a far less extent than he'd been upon waking. Sai had acted recklessly—for reasons Naruto wasn't yet certain of—but he was still a part of their team. Just as Sasuke was still a part of them, regardless of the years and distance that separated them.

And he really didn't like the idea of Danzou sending Sai out on another mission that would require him to use his lesser-known skills.

He sighed, resigned. "I'll ask the old hag to go easy on him."

Sakura beamed and abruptly threw herself at him. He stiffened, half expecting her to hit him and nearly jumping out of the bed when instead, she wrapped her arms around him and practically squeezed the breath from his lungs.

"But," he gasped, drawing in a much-needed breath, "that doesn't mean I'm going to forgive him that easily."

"Of course not," she said, stepping away and grinning much too brightly in Naruto's opinion.

"So how did the scouting mission go then? Did they find the missing nin?" He was eager to let the topic of Sai's motivations pass, not willing just yet to linger on what it could mean if Sakura was right. He'd been worried that the intimacy would shift their team dynamics and hadn't it done just that? Sai had gone temporarily insane and Naruto would now have to maim him for being so stupid.

"Kakashi and Sai are a little bruised, but they're fine. Lee's team as well. The missing nin got away though. We're still not sure what they were doing in the area but... I imagine we'll find out eventually if they were up to something."

He nodded, scowling darkly. "We probably would have caught them if I'd been there."

She made an impatient gesture. "Well, you weren't so just forget about it. You'll get another chance to go after them if they show up again."

He huffed, turning away to glare at the closed blinds. Light filtered in from between the slats and, oddly enough, knowing that the sky had probably cleared and the warmth of spring had reasserted itself over the village calmed him a bit. He kicked the blankets aside and slid from the bed, moving to stand before the window. He tugged at the blinds until sunlight flooded in and filled the darkened corners with patterns of light. He pressed his hand against the glass, the warmth focused through the glass seeping into his palm.

He said, "Thank you, Sakura."

He could hear her shift behind him before she said, "Tsunade-shishou wants you to stay here for at least another day so she can keep an eye on your seal. Just as a precaution."

He nodded and it occurred to him that he really needed to pee. He made the mistake of telling her so.

She gave him a disgusted look. "Er. Well, it has been a whole day. I'll just... go check up on my other patients. Try to rest."

He nodded and waved her out before stumbling to the bathroom. He hated being confined to a hospital room. He felt fine and Sakura had said herself that nothing was wrong with his seal; the old hag was probably just being paranoid.

A couple minutes and a great deal of relief later, he stepped back into his room to find a familiar figure standing awkwardly by the doorway.

He took one look at Sai and suddenly he was across the room, his fist connecting with the hard line of Sai's jaw. Sai stumbled backward, reaching out to steady himself against the wall.

"You let me hit you!" Naruto shouted, his voice reverberating against the chakra-infused walls.

Sai wiped at his split lip and shrugged lightly. "You seemed determined."

"Agh! You're such a prick."

"Naruto, I want to apolo—" Sai was cut off by Naruto's other fist. He collided into the wall, looking dazed.

"Ha! Didn't see _that_ one coming, did you?" Naruto said with a triumphant bark of laughter. He turned away and crawled back into his bed while Sai composed himself. "So apologize then, asshole. And while you're at it, you better give me a damn good explanation for messing with my seal." He didn't like the way his chest tightened in anticipation, as if a part of him had already accepted what Sakura had said for truth... or at least hoped for it. But Naruto wasn't going to make a fool of himself again. He wanted to hear it directly from Sai.

Sai was still leaning against the wall, one hand poking gingerly at his face and working his jaw to ensure it wasn't broken. Naruto watched him silently, taking note that his eye, which Naruto hadn't touched, was beginning to swell from what must have been an impressive hit. He straightened, meeting Naruto's gaze without any sign of trepidation or remorse for what he'd done. Naruto's hands curled in his lap, restraining the urge to wrap them around Sai's neck.

"I..." Sai shifted on his feet, the only sign that he might be feeling as uneasy as Naruto. "I didn't want you to get hurt," he said, his voice stilted as if the words felt awkward in his mouth.

"Why?"

Sai frowned, the expression as odd on his face now as it had been in the hallway outside the Hokage's office. He opened his mouth but, even as Naruto waited, he seemed unable to form his thoughts into words. But his eyes, suddenly uncertain, shifted away and Naruto understood.

He sighed and cleared his throat. "Well, anyway, if you _ever_ mess with my seal or do anything that stupid to me again, I swear I'll rasengan your ass."

Sai had the audacity to smile. "I'm sorry. I wasn't... I hadn't thought it out very well."

"Clearly," Naruto muttered. Sai moved to sit in a small metal chair set against the wall, his mouth curled into a smile that, despite Naruto's best efforts, made something warm unravel inside him.

"You look well."

Naruto scowled and wanted very much to plant his fist into Sai's face again, but the man already had enough bruises in that vicinity as it was.

"You actually let one of those missing nin hit you?" Naruto asked, gesturing at Sai's eye.

Sai shook his head. "Sakura did that."

Naruto was inordinately pleased by that bit of information. "Good to know she wasn't completely on your side. Now promise me you'll never try to stop me from going on a mission again."

Sai's face grew impassive again. Naruto could tell by the tightness around his mouth that he was thinking about _something_ but refused to respond.

Naruto would not be deterred. "Promise me, Sai, or... or I'm going to ask the old hag to remove you from our team." It was an empty threat but Sai didn't know that.

Sai's mouth parted slightly in surprise and—Naruto almost winced—hurt. It made him feel guilty for lying but if Sai couldn't trust him to take care of himself then _he_ couldn't trust Sai. Besides, he reminded himself, the man deserved it.

After a painful moment of indecision, Sai finally muttered, "You always get hurt."

Naruto felt the last of his anger dissipate and he was relieved to find that, in its place, was a reluctant understanding. "Probably. But we're ninjas, Sai. It can't be avoided."

Sai looked so uncharacteristically distraught that Naruto took pity on him. "Look, I'll give you a promise in exchange. I promise I'll try not to lose my temper and get myself into trouble on missions, especially if it involves Akatsuki."

Sai appeared to consider this. Finally, he gave a hesitant nod. "All right." His gaze slid away from Naruto's and focused blankly on the windows, clearly displeased with the arrangement. Naruto couldn't find it in himself to be angry anymore. Sai's show of emotion was reminiscent of the mystifying look in his eyes when they were naked and flushed from exertions not at all ninja-related. Naruto had never been able to decipher that look before.

The silence in the room was beginning to grow uncomfortable when Naruto finally huffed irritably and shifted over on his bed.

"Are you going to just sit there or get in here with me?"

Sai blinked in surprise. The tense lines of his shoulders loosened and, despite that his face was now turning various shades of purple in several spots, a small smile curved his lips. Naruto grumbled something about idiots and their stupid sentimental notions before patting the empty space beside him.

Sai joined him without further argument, sinking into the mound of fluffy hospital pillows, and dropped his head onto Naruto's shoulder. Naruto felt the last of his uncertainty slip away as he curled into the body beside him, the steady rhythm of Sai's breaths warm against his neck. Sai still smelled like the forest, the earthy scent of pine and wilderness clinging to his skin. Naruto turned his face into his hair as a strong arm found its way around his waist.

He still had to consider what this would do to their team and they would have to discuss matters with Kakashi and Sakura... not to mention he had to talk with Tsunade-bachan about Sai's punishment and then worry about what they'd do when Sai returned to ANBU in the unforeseeable future—that was taking into consideration the possibility that they even lasted more than a few months and Naruto wasn't at all certain of that.

But as Sai shifted against him, a tiny, possibly unintentional sigh of content slipping past his lips, Naruto decided he'd had enough of doubts and excessive deliberation. He pulled Sai a little closer and closed his eyes.

oOo

Ramen was a glorious thing after being bedridden for two days.

It was twice as satisfying when it was being paid for by your favorite ex-sensei.

"Iruka, you're the_best_," Naruto said. Iruka gave him a strained smile, which was appropriate considering Naruto was simultaneously breathing down his ramen, thanking Iruka profusely, and grinning like a loon. He amazed himself sometimes.

"It's fine, really. Eat up, eat up." Iruka took a less robust bite from his bowl. "So I ran into Sai earlier this morning."

Naruto paused at the sudden change in topic. He cast Iruka a curious look, urging him to continue.

"Well," Iruka said. He rubbed the back of his neck and laughed uncertainly. "He told me you mentioned once that..." He flushed and the wariness Naruto was beginning to feel was promptly quelled by the warmth in Iruka's smile. "...er, that you thought of me like a father."

Naruto turned away to hide his own rising blush and shrugged, attempting to play off the display of emotion. "Well... it's true." What the hell was Sai doing saying such random things to the man anyway?

"And... well, because of that, he... er. He asked for permission to court you."

Naruto heaved forward, choking on his mouthful of ramen, and his chopsticks snapped between his fingers. There was a moment of silence as Iruka pounded on his back before...

"He did _WHAT_?" Naruto flung his broken chopsticks onto the counter. Iruka attempted to placate him but Naruto wasn't listening. What the hell was Sai's problem? He wasn't a _girl_ and he was going to damn well show him that by kicking his ass all the way to Suna.

"I'm sure he had the best intentions, Naruto. He said he'd read a book about how that was the most proper way to date and..." Iruka fell silent at the dark clouds brewing over Naruto's head and shrugged helplessly. "Don't kill him, Naruto."

Naruto promised nothing, darting away to seek his quarry. Even as he stalked the streets, his masculine pride thoroughly insulted, he understood that the ridiculous request was Sai's twisted way of reassuring him that it had in fact never really been about just a physical encounter.

And for that, Naruto wouldn't kick his ass _too_ hard.

_The End._


End file.
